CHAPTER 10 — THE ROOM THAT COULD NOT OPEN
The police convoy stopped two blocks from Vale Tower.
Adrian and Milo entered through the underground parking garage while tactical officers prepared above.
The maintenance shaft was barely wide enough for Adrian’s shoulders.
Milo crawled ahead with the notebook between his teeth.
“Three levels down,” Adrian whispered.
“I know.”
“You scared?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Fear keeps you careful.”
Milo looked back.
“Are you scared?”
Adrian thought about Celeste, the sabotaged car, and the people trapped upstairs.
“More than I’ve ever been.”
They reached the control room with seven minutes left.
Inside stood two manual levers on opposite walls.
A warning label read:
EMERGENCY PURGE REQUIRES DUAL ACTIVATION. CHAMBER SEALS FOR TEN MINUTES.
Milo’s face changed.
“One person can’t reach both.”
Adrian studied the distance.
“Then we both stay.”
“The charges go off in six minutes.”
“The room is reinforced.”
“But the boardroom isn’t.”
Adrian opened the electrical panel.
According to Jonah’s notes, once the levers were pulled, one had to remain physically locked in place while the second was released from outside.
It was designed to prevent accidental activation.
Adrian called Luis.
“Get Milo’s father on the phone.”
Jonah answered.
“Did you find it?”
“Yes. How do I send Milo out?”
“You can’t. Not through the main door.”
Milo shone a flashlight upward.
“There’s a ventilation hatch.”
It was small.
Small enough for a child.
Adrian pulled a metal cabinet beneath it.
“You climb out after we pull the levers.”
“What about you?”
“I stay and hold mine.”
“The room seals.”
“I know.”
“Ten minutes.”
“I heard you.”
Milo’s eyes filled.
“The explosion is in five.”
Adrian gripped his shoulders.
“You came to my window because you saw danger and did the right thing. Now I need you to do it one more time.”
“What if the room breaks?”
“Then you tell your father he raised a brave son.”
Milo shook his head.
“I don’t want another person to die.”
Adrian gave him a faint smile.
“Neither do I.”
The countdown reached four minutes.
They took their positions.
Adrian nodded.
“On three.”
“One.”
Milo wrapped both hands around his lever.
“Two.”
The building alarm began screaming.
“Three!”
They pulled.
Steel doors slammed shut.
Milo climbed onto the cabinet and forced open the hatch.
Adrian held his lever down as pain burned through his shoulder.
“Go!”
Milo pulled himself into the vent.
Before he disappeared, he looked back.
“Adrian!”
“What?”
“I’m coming back for you.”
The hatch closed.
Adrian checked the emergency display.
The purge had started.
Upstairs, Marcus’s transmitter lost its signal.
May you like
But instead of dying, the six explosive circuits switched to backup mode.
The countdown dropped to sixty seconds.
